Lifestyle

6 Museum Apps for Virtual Field Trips

6 Museum Apps for Virtual Field Trips

The armchair and iPhone traveler can get a behind the scenes look at new exhibits or hunt through MoMA’s collection. You might have to explain how Jackson Pollock’s splatters differ from the artwork hanging on your fridge, though.

This app was designed to enhance a physical visit, but it does almost too good of a job showing users around the human history-focused museum. Your child could easily be be entertained for an hour (the length of the audio tour) poking around totem poles, ivory carvings and other artifacts from the days of our earliest ancestors.

This museum’s app echoes the architectural style of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building itself: modern, sleek and easy to navigate with its color-coded galleries. Audio and visual tours of current exhibits, as well the museum’s permanent collection, provide users with a full view of its offerings.

Your kids would never be able to get this close to the Mona Lisa in real life; the painting is protected by a bulletproof glass case, and Louvre visitors create a human barrier of their own around da Vinci's famous piece. They can also tour Napoleon’s lavish apartment. Because much of the Louvre's collection features mature (read: nude) subjects, this app might be more appropriate for older children.

This app includes all the museum’s highlights from the Blue Whale to the Barosaurus. Take a quick tour yourself and develop a scavenger hunt for your child. We’ll start you off with a question: What year was Lucy, an early hominid skeleton exhibited at the museum, discovered by scientist?

Got a dinosaur lover with lots of time on his or her hands? Try the museum’s dinosaur iPad app.

This mini-tour app offers audio guides, detailed information and the ability to zoom way in on 250 works of art from masters such as Vincent van Gogh and Johannes Vermeer. We love the Insight feature. It allows users to pick a topic like “triumph” or “inspiration” and find works that fit in this theme.

For: iPhonePrice: $2.99

Image: Love Art: National Gallery, London

You’re nearly three months into summer vacation, your kids are restless, and you’re all out of field trip ideas. Or maybe your student just needs a cultural refresher before hitting the books again this fall. Lucky for you, a smartphone or tablet could be your children's ticket to seeing historical artifacts and world-renowned art — all at the tap of an app.

Whether your kids want to understand the first people to walk the earth or find out about the greatest living artists in the world, chances are there’s a museum app out there to educate and entertain them for hours.

We found six museum apps for iOS and Android devices that kept our users engaged. Is there an app that your kids use to take themselves on virtual field trips? Let us know in the comments below.

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